Maybe it doesn't come from a store....

Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn't come from a store. (Dr. Seuss)

“Yes, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit. For apart from me you can’t do a thing. My true disciples produce bountiful harvests. This brings great glory to my Father." 

(John 15:5,8 TLB)

Could it be that Christmas begins with "connection"? It took Christ's "connection" with human form in order to actually re-establish "connection" of the human with the divine! I have had some times of "loose connection" in my life - with Christ, others, and tasks or responsibilities. Let's just be honest here - maintaining "tight" and "permanent" connections is kind of hard sometimes. It requires constant attention to the details because it doesn't take much to disturb connection!

In what ways are connection lost? The first thing that might come to mind is by it coming "loose". In other words, something jarred it to the point it became loose - either through friction, bumps and bangs, or just plain "vibration". In the course of time, the connection gives into the constant movement and there is a "backing away" from the contact it had been making. This is why it is so important to examine those contacts from time to time, because this "backing off" can occur almost unnoticed. In time, the vital connection is lost and it takes work to realize how to restore that connection.

The second way I can think of that connections are lost is through corrosion. Things get into where they shouldn't be and the resulting effect of those interlopers is corrosion. It doesn't take much to interrupt that connection - the tiniest bit of corrosion can lead to disturbances - perhaps intermittent at first, but as more corrosion occurs, that connection is disturbed completely. There is nothing passing through as it should be. The thing about corrosive things is that they don't stop with just a little corrosion - the corrosive substance just keeps working until more and more interruption occurs. To deal with corrosion means we keep the things out that shouldn't get in and we do frequent inspections of the connection, removing anything that corrupts that connection as quickly as possible.

The last thing we might consider as affecting connection is what might be referred to as "normal wear and tear". In other words, through time we become complacent to the connection and it is just not as vital as it once was because of our neglect. Where it concerns connection, there is no room for neglect. If we neglect our connection of battery cable to battery, we can get corrosion and that interferes with connection. If we neglect the fluid levels in our battery, that leads to dry cells. Either way, we don't have enough "juice" to keep things going! Neglect creeps in - it isn't usually purposeful. Time passes and we just plain forget how important it is to do these "connection checks". 

If we have been feeling the effect of a "connection loss", it could be this is the best time to ensure there is vital and "free" connection between us and whatever (or whoever) it is we have lost connection with. Maybe the best Christmas gift we can give another is that connection. It could just be it would the best gift for us, as well! Just sayin!